


Starry Skies

by warrior_of_wisdom



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AFAB Chara (Undertale), AFAB Frisk (Undertale), Angst, Child Neglect, F/F, F/M, Family Reunions, Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, Nonbinary Chara (Undertale), Nonbinary Frisk (Undertale), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Politics, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, but all the chapters are named after undertale songs, its just bad memories for them, my first work in the undertale fandom!, now that all the good stuff's out of the way we can get to the angst :D, only described, probably should have mentioned this before, well it starts out as fluff and gets really angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29391159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/warrior_of_wisdom/pseuds/warrior_of_wisdom
Summary: After ages trapped underground, the monsters have finally seen the sun again. Led by their heroes out of the Underground, everyone is ready to pave a new future.Frisk is ready to shed their past responsibilities, taking on a new role as the ambassador for monsters. But when their past demons begin to catch up to them, they find that they may have to rely on someone other than themself.Chara just wants to fix everything that they’ve broken. They’ve done a good enough job so far, right? Everything seems to be okay… but underneath their carefully maintained facade of happiness, something dark lurks deep in the depths of their very soul.Asriel feels as if he’s stepping on glass, clinging tightly onto the tentative peace that humans and monsters seem to have settled into. Like Chara, he just wants everything to return to normal, but deep down, he knows that nothing will ever be the same. Now, it’s only a matter of settling into this new, strange reality.As darkness abounds in their new home, and their world collapses around them, Frisk, Chara, and Asriel must find a way to pick up the pieces of the life they once knew, and learn how to continue on when everything seems lost.
Relationships: Alphys & Mettaton (Undertale), Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Asgore Dreemurr & Toriel, Asriel Dreemurr & Frisk, Asriel Dreemurr & Toriel, Chara & Asriel Dreemurr, Chara & Frisk (Undertale), Papyrus & Sans (Undertale), Sans & Undyne (Undertale)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 17





	1. Once Upon A Time

**Author's Note:**

> hello to everyone who clicked on this! i hope you've all had a wonderful day :)
> 
> anyways, this is my first work in the undertale fandom! i usually write for Legend of Zelda and other stuff so this is a really big step for me (or at least it feels that way).

He was everything, and he was nothing.

Shapes and stars and light floated through his vision, and he was thrown around his mind, unable to comprehend what was happening. It was impossible to think straight. Where was he? Who was he? What was happening?

He was thrown back and forth between memories that he wasn’t even sure were his, as he tried to find his way back to himself. Back to who he was, or who he used to be. So many different sights flew past his mind, of snow-covered hills and a small village in a waterfall and a warm home in what looked like a volcano.

But one thought stuck.

_ What was that sound? _

_ It sounds like it came from over here… _

_ Oh! You’ve fallen down, haven’t you? _

_ Are you okay? _

_ Here, I’ll help you up… _

_ What’s your name? _

_ Chara, huh? That’s a nice name. _

_ My name is… _

Asriel.

Soon, more memories began to force their way through the sludge of the other memories. Two best friends, a human and a monster, in striped shirts and matching lockets.

His best friend falling ill and dying.

Taking their soul, and dying as well.

The flower.

_ No no no no no not the flower again please not the flower- _

Slowly, he heard a quiet voice, drawing him out of the panic he had been falling into.

_ “-iel? My child, can you hear me? Please, wake up… we want you to come home…” _

_ “Please, son, for our future… Asriel, wake up…” _

_ “Azzy? Can you wake up, please…? I’m sorry, I tried to save you…” _

He cried out, trying to reach towards the voices, but something was keeping him locked away.

_ “Alphys? What’s happening?” _

_ “H-he’s trying to wake up, but s-something’s h-holding him back… I’m s-sorry, Toriel. It’s all mental from h-here on out… Asriel will have t-to overcome this on h-his own.” _

Who was Toriel, again… his mother, right? Yeah, Toriel was his mom and his dad’s name was Asgore. He was sure about that much, which meant that the first two voices had to be them. But who was the third?

Some sort of warmth enveloped him, and he cried out one more time, begging to understand what’s happening.

_ “Azzy… Asriel, please come home. I know you and I don’t know each other that well, but I want you back. Please, wake up…” _

Chara? No, Chara’s been dead for years.

Suddenly, the warmth left.  _ “Asgore, I need to-” _

_ “Frisk, child, you’ve done enough. I am certain that Asriel will find his way home.” _

_ “Take your hands off my child.” _

_ “Toriel, please...” _

_ “H-hey, you two, calm d-down! No f-fighting in m-my lab!” _

_ “Alphys, you have no authority-” _

_ “No, it might upset t-the amalgamates, a-and the fusion won’t w-work out, and it m-might kill Asriel again. I’m trying to m-minimize the damage, n-not cause any of it.” _

What was happening to him? He needed to find out.

He pushed his way to the front of his mind, trying his best to see what was happening. Asriel’s eyes cracked open slightly, and he caught a gaze of purple, blue, white, and yellow, before shutting his eyes again because the light was too bright. The other memories had faded now, and he felt comfortable.

He opened his eyes again, drawing the attention of the other kid in the blue-and-purple sweater. Finally, their name came back to him.

“Frisk,” he said quietly, and the room went silent. Toriel and Asgore paused their brief squabble, and the doctor shrieked.

“Oh my god,” she said, “it r-really worked! Finally, I didn’t screw something up!”

Frisk’s face was split in a wide grin as they took Asriel’s hand. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” they whispered, giggling. “I was getting worried there for a second.”

Almost as soon as he sat up, he was pulled into a crushing hug, something wet dripping into his shoulder. “Oh, Asriel,” someone sobbed, and he quickly recognized it as Toriel. “I thought I would never see you again, my child…”

Asriel could feel tears welling up in his own eyes, and he hugged her back. “I missed you, Mom,” he whispered.

“A-Asriel!” the doctor said, a pink blush coating her cheeks, and he quickly recognized her voice as the person that Toriel had called Alphys. “Thank g-goodness you’re okay… and I’m s-so sorry for everything with t-the determination e-experiments and everything… I should have k-known better than t-to keep going. I’m sorry.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Huh?”

Alphys frowned. “You… you d-don’t remember? How I accidentally c-created  _ Flowey?” _

A shiver ran down his spine at the name, and visions of death and destruction and fear flashed across his vision as he froze. Frisk was quickly at his side, taking his hand again. “Azzy, it’s okay. Whatever you’re seeing now, it’s over, I promise.”

Something else crossed his mind, and he took another look at Frisk. “I can’t believe I ever thought you were Chara,” he laughed. “You don’t even look that much like them!”

Frisk shrugged, watching as Toriel, Asgore, and Alphys walked to a console on the other side of the room. “We look pretty similar, I guess,” they said, scratching the back of their neck. “We wear practically the same thing…” They pushed up the sleeves of their sweater. “And, you know, I have their soul,” they whispered so quietly that only Asriel could hear.

He opened his mouth, but Frisk slightly shook their head. “It would crush Toriel,” they whispered. “To know Chara’s right here, but they can’t come home… it would kill her.” There was a slight hitch in their breath, and they squeezed Asriel’s hand. “But they’re here, and they miss you.”

Asriel smiled. “I miss them too,” he whispered.

Asgore looked back at them, a fondness in his eyes that made a warm feeling swell in Asriel’s chest.

_ Oh, it was so nice to be able to feel things again. _

As Toriel and Alphys talked, Asgore walked over to them, giving them a big smile. “How are you two getting along so far?”

Frisk smiled, laughing. “Pretty well,” they said, looking back at Asriel. “Right?”

Asriel beamed, nodding. “Yep!”

Asgore sighed, his shoulders slumping. “Well, there is something I have to discuss with the two of you, pertaining to the future.”

Asriel leaned into Frisk’s side, face scrunched. “Huh?”

“After your… death,” Asgore said, wincing, “your mother and I did not get along that well, and we split up. Toriel is refusing to have a civil discussion with me, and it’s likely that it’ll take a while for these wounds to heal.”

Frisk looked hurt. “What about us?”

“It’s likely that you’ll be living with Toriel, though I may be able to see you every once in a while… I’m sorry. I know this is hard on you both.”

“What if Frisk has family on the surface?” Asriel asked, flinching as Frisk went pale and rapidly shook their head, pulling away from him.

Asgore grimaced. “They didn’t have the best relationship with their parents,” he said, “so we volunteered to take care of them.”

“Oh,” Asriel said, looking over at Frisk. Their eyes seemed distant, and they sighed.

_ Could that be why you climbed the mountain? _

“Everything’s better now,” they said. “You guys care about me, and that’s enough.”

“Frisk-”

“Everything’s okay,” they said forcefully, crossing their arms. “I’m fine.”

Asriel sighed, tapping his fingers on his legs. “Why can’t we live with you?”

“Your mother… doesn’t exactly trust me around the two of you.”

“Why not?”

Beside him, Frisk began to fidget. “I’m gonna… go see how everyone else is doing.”

“That… that is a good idea.” 

Frisk quickly got up and walked off, sparing one last glance at Asriel and Asgore. They looked nervous as they waved goodbye to Toriel and Alphys exiting the lab and walking into an elevator.

“Asriel… many, many things have changed since you and Chara were alive,” Asgore said, and Asriel narrowed his eyes.

“Something happened between you and Mom,” he said, “and whatever it was, it’s got Frisk really upset. What happened?”

Asgore tensed up. “After you and Chara died, I was extremely upset, and… in a fit of anger, I declared that any human that fell into the Underground was to be killed.”

_ “What?” _

Asgore nodded solemnly. “I have never regretted anything more.”

“Dad… there were six souls…”

“I’m so sorry.”

Asriel felt as if his breath had been knocked out of his lungs, as he tried to make sense of everything.

“Your mother was very upset with this decree, and she left, traveling to the Ruins to keep any human who fell safe.”

“Why didn’t you just not kill the humans?”

“Because for the first time in ages, the monsters had hope,” Asgore whispered. “If I took that away, they’d  _ kill _ me.”

“But-”

“I made a promise, Asriel,” he said. “And I know how much promises mean to you.”

Asriel sighed, looking over at Toriel. She was discussing something with Alphys, and he longed to know what was going on, but there was something more important for him to do right now.

He wrapped his father in a tight hug, silently crying into his shoulder. “If… if Frisk can forgive me for all the horrible things I’ve done, and if they found it in their heart to spare me… I can forgive you, too.”

Asgore slowly moved to wrap his arms around him, and Asriel sobbed into his shoulder, squeezing him tightly.

“We missed you, son,” he said. “But things will be different now. I’m sure our wounds will heal, and we will be whole again soon… I promise.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that promise, Dad.”

  
  


Frisk sat down in the elevator, letting out a long sigh. “Well, that couldn’t have gone any worse,” they muttered.

_ What are you talking about? That was perfect! _

“You would say that,” they said, shaking their head.

_ Come on! Any number of things could have gone wrong, but everything went right! Aren’t you happy now! _

“Of course I’m happy!” they said. “It’s just… I was so  _ awkward _ around Asgore. I can’t help but feel like I ruined everything!”

_ Why are you so down? Come on, Frisk! You’re supposed to be the optimist! _

“Why are  _ you _ being so optimistic?”

_ Because my best friend is finally back. Wouldn’t you be happy, too? _

“I am happy! I just wish I hadn’t been so awkward towards the end.”

_ Why do you care so much about being awkward? _

“Because I don’t want everyone to think I’m weird.”

_ Oh, come on! They love you! Why would they think you’re weird? _

“I don’t know… because I’m human, and they’re monsters?”

_ I was human, and nobody ever treated me differently. _

“That’s different.”

_ How, exactly, is it different? _

“Chara…”

_ Okay, okay, I’ll stop pressing you. _

“Thanks.”

The elevator opened, and Frisk began to step out, before hesitating for a second. “Chara?”

_ Yeah? _

“Do you think we should tell Alphys about that book?”

_...I’m not ready. _

“But-”

**_Frisk, I’m not ready._ **

“...Sorry.”

_ Hey, it’s fine. Sorry for freaking out like that… it just isn’t time. _

“I get it. It would be hard to get used to that, huh?”

Chara hummed, and Frisk could feel their presence receding from their mind.  _ I’m going to sleep for a little while. Don’t do anything too exciting while I’m out. _

“Bye,” they whispered, looking out the elevator. Frisk knew everyone was waiting right outside, and they walked into the main lab, holding onto the locket hanging around their neck.

The first person to notice their arrival was Undyne, who quickly made her way over to them. “How did everything go? Is everyone okay?”

Frisk smiled. “Everything’s alright! They just have a few more things to get done down there.”

“How is Alphys?”

“A little stressed, but she managed to do everything perfectly.”

Undyne sighed in relief. “Good,” she said. “She’s never really handled that kind of stress well… I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

“She’s fine, Undyne. They’ll all be up in a minute.”

She nodded, looking over to where Sans and Papyrus were sitting. “Everything’s good!” she called.

The skeletons looked over, and Sans flashed a thumbs up. “where is everyone?”

“They should all be back up soon,” Frisk answered, smiling. “Everything’s going to be alright.”

Just then, the elevator beeped, and they looked back, seeing Asgore and Alphys walking out. “Hello, everyone,” they said, both of them smiling. 

“Where are Toriel and Asriel?”

“They wanted a bit of time alone,” Asgore said, sighing. “She was so happy to see him…”

“S-she must have really missed him,” Alphys murmured, a light blush coating her face. “She forced us out of the lab so they could have some alone time. I mean, I don’t blame her, but… geez, the l-look on her face was a bit scary.”

Frisk nodded sagely. “Toriel can be really scary when she tries.”

The elevator opened again, and Toriel and Asriel walked out, Toriel tightly grasping her son’s hand. “Hello, everyone,” she said with a warm smile. “How is everyone doing?”

“We’re good!” Undyne called. “How long until we leave?”

Asriel frowned. “Leave where?”

“The Underground,” Asgore replied. “The barrier is broken. We’re free.”

Asriel’s eyes lit up. “It really worked?”

Frisk smiled. “Yeah… it’s long past time that you all made it out of here. We can go when everyone’s ready.”

“Is anyone  _ not _ ready?” Asgore asked.

“nope, i think we’re all good,” Sans said. “let’s get out of here.”

“Let’s go!” Papyrus yelled, charging out of the lab and towards the Waterfall.

“Is anyone gonna tell him he’s going the wrong way?” Toriel asked.

“nah, let’s just see how far he gets before he realizes.”

  
  
  


Chara opened their eyes to a nearly blinding brightness, one that they hadn’t seen in nearly three hundred years.

They could feel the summer breeze on their face—well, it wasn’t exactly  _ their _ face—and smell the scent of the air all around them. It smelled like flowers, and food, and so many things that you’d never see in the Underground.

Finally, they had returned to the surface.

Chara could feel Asriel holding Frisk’s hand, and they reached out. “I’m awake,” they called.

Frisk briefly jolted in surprise, before Chara could feel their warm smile like the breeze.  _ Chara! You’re awake! _

“You could have told me we were leaving,” they said. “I would’ve liked to be awake, you know!”

_ Heh… sorry. I didn’t want to disturb you. _

“Are you kidding me? I wake you up all the time.”

_ Yeah, thanks a  _ lot _ for that. _

“Was that  _ sarcasm?” _ Chara’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know you were capable of that!”

_ I can be mean sometimes! _

“Well, excuse me for not believing you.”

They could hear a voice that was coming outside of their head.  _ “Frisk, are you okay? You seem distracted.” _

Frisk chuckled quietly.  _ Wanna say hi, Chara? _

“Out of my way,” Chara grumbled, and all of a sudden, they were the one in control. The summer breeze was hitting their face, and Asriel was holding their hand.

“Frisk?” Asriel shook their hand. “Earth to Frisk… you know, everyone else is gone now…”

“Good,” Chara said, smirking. “That means you and I have time to talk.”

Asriel looked over to them, pulling back. “What just happened to your voice? And your eyes… Frisk?”

“They’ve decided to take a backseat for a little bit,” they said. “I was getting a bit antsy.”

Asriel narrowed his eyes, looking suspicious for a moment, before gasping. “Chara?”

Chara smiled. “You got it first try—oof! Azzy, what the heck?”

Asriel had gathered them in a crushing hug, crying into their shoulder. “Chara! I missed you so much!”

Chara fought off the tears that were building in their eyes. “I missed you too, Azzy… I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“Well… I’m the reason you died, and…”

_ Oh, shut up, Chara! You’ll ruin the moment! _

“I didn’t ask for your opinion, Frisk,” they hissed, rolling their eyes.

“Huh?”

“Oh, sorry. Frisk was being annoying.”

_ Hey! _

“Can you shut it for, like, two seconds? I’m trying to reunite with my brother right now!”

Asriel laughed. “So can they hear us?”

“Everything we’re saying, and they can see everything around us. It’s the same way when I’m not in control.”

“Well… can they hear me saying hi to them?”

_ Hi, Azzy! _

“They said hi back.”

Asriel grinned. “This is gonna be so much fun! My two best friends are here, and we’re on the surface, and-” He looked up, and instantly, his mouth snapped shut.

“Asriel? What’s wrong?”

“...Are these the stars you were telling me about, all that time ago?”

Finally, Chara noticed that the sun had set, and the stars had risen. They had been outside for a while. “...Yeah.”

They heard a quiet sniffle, coming from Asriel. “They… they’re beautiful, Chara… gosh, you and Frisk grew up with this? You must have been so lucky…”

_ We weren’t really that lucky, _ Frisk murmured from inside their head,  _ were we? _ They sounded despondent, and Chara couldn’t help but agree.

“Only in some ways,” they whispered back.

“Huh?”

“Frisk and I didn’t have the childhood you did, Azzy,” they said. “We didn’t have loving and caring parents, like Toriel and Asgore. I mean, from what I’ve seen, Frisk’s parents  _ did _ care, but… not the way that the monsters did. It wasn’t a real kind of love.”

“Was it really that bad? For you, I mean.”

“Azzy…”

“Chara, did… did they hurt you?”

“No!” they snapped. “They just… they just didn’t care. I didn’t mean that much to them at all, and they just didn’t pay attention to me. And when I was younger, I thought that was the way everyone was. That nobody cared about anybody anymore.”

“What changed your mind?”

“...You did. You and Mom and Dad showed me that love was a real thing.”

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, Frisk’s depression souring Chara’s mood.

“Mom and Dad will take care of us,” Asriel whispered. “All three of us. Maybe they don’t know that you’re here, Chara, but… they care about me a lot, and they care about you and Frisk. Monsters are weird… they all really care about both of you. Maybe it’s because Frisk saved them, or showed them the true meaning of love, but… everyone cares about you guys. I know that everything’s going to be okay.”

Chara laid down, looking up at the sky. The stars really were beautiful out here.

“I’m tired,” they whispered.

“Go to sleep,” Asriel said. “We’ll all still be here when you wake up.”

Chara slowly closed their eyes, and let their hold over Frisk’s body slip as they fell into a blissful sleep.

  
  
  


Frisk opened their eyes, seeing Asriel kneeling above them. He frowned, asking, “Weren’t you going to sleep?”

“It’s Frisk,” they said automatically, rubbing their eyes. “Gosh, Chara must have been really tired…”

Asriel extended a hand to help them up, and Frisk took it gladly, rubbing their eyes. “You ready to leave? Everyone else is still on the mountain, because Mom just asked us if we were okay.”

Frisk brushed off their sweater, combing their fingers through their hair before looking back up at the sky. Even though it had been a week since they had fallen down the mountain, they still missed the feeling of the outside world.

They didn’t regret coming, though, as they took Asriel’s hand and pulled him down to where the rest of the group was waiting for them. Everyone else looked back at them, their relief showing on their faces. “We were wondering what was taking the two of you so long,” Asgore said. 

“We just had a nice conversation,” Asriel said. “It was really nice to get to talk to them.”

Toriel smiled. “I’m so happy that the two of you are getting along so well!”

Frisk smiled back. “I guess we were just meant to be best friends.”

“We waited for you here for hours!” Papyrus complained, stamping his foot. “What kind of conversation takes that long?”

“paps, we’ve been out here for twenty minutes.”

“It cannot have possibly been that long.”

As the brothers continued their bickering, Frisk sighed, looking up to the sky. They could pinpoint constellations in the stars and patterns, and a warm feeling filled their chest.

_ I always loved the stars, _ Chara whispered, sounding content.

“I thought you were going to sleep,” Frisk said under their breath.

_ Eh, I’m not that tired anymore. _

“Geez, can you ever make a decision?”

The conversation slowly faded, and the group grew restless. Finally, Undyne asked, “When are we gonna go?”

“It’s only 8 in the evening, I think,” Frisk said. “Maybe we should go now.”

The entire group murmured their consent, and they smiled. Frisk took Asriel’s hand, and led them down the path.

“Come on guys,” they said. “Let’s go home.”


	2. Anticipation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monsters have made it to the Surface, but there are still some things that stand in their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unrelated but somewhat funny thing that happened to me the other day:  
> i was in history, and one of our warmup questions was to name a concrete and mental effect of something (i wasn't really paying attention). someone asked what the teacher meant by that, and she started to explain it, and i stopped paying attention because i was already done with the warmup.  
> and then, i start paying attention again because she says, "can you feel hopes? can you feel dreams?" and i'm chuckling because it reminded me of undertale for obvious reasons.  
> and then she says, "you can't touch love, right? but you can touch flowers," and i almost fell out of my chair because there was no way that was a coincidence.

The walk down the mountain wasn’t long, and before they knew it, the group was at the front of Mt. Ebott National Park. Asriel nervously glanced at Frisk. “What’s the plan?”

“Go down there, talk to the governor, and hopefully not get killed in the process.”

“I’ll be honest with ya, kid… that’s a terrible plan,” Sans pointed out.

“W-well, what are everyone else’s ideas?” Frisk stammered, blushing. “I’m not very good at this.”

Toriel patted them on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, my child. You’re only twelve, you shouldn’t force yourself to learn about the politics of this world.”

“It’s a bit too late for that.”

Toriel’s gaze grew somber, and she drew Frisk into her arms. “Oh, dear… I’m so sorry.”

“It’s nothing,” they said, leaning into her embrace. “I’ve seen worse. I’ve traveled all over the world… some towns are about to completely collapse. This place is nothing compared to that.”

“Where are we right now?” Asriel asked.

“We’re in Endra, a town near the border of Karatis.”

“...where is that?”

Frisk sighed. “I’ll show you later, when I can get to a map.”

As they finished speaking, a beam of light swept through the trees, and they heard a voice calling, “Who’s there?”

Frisk tensed, taking Asriel’s hand. “Stay quiet,” they whispered. “I can get us out of this, I swear.”

“I really hope you’re right…”

“What do we do now?” Asgore quietly wondered.

“Don’t worry, I got this,” Frisk assured, stepping forward. “Hello! Over here!”

“You’re gonna lead them right to us!” Undyne said.

“...That’s the point.”

Frisk inhaled deeply, their muscles tensing as they tried to ground themselves. They stepped forward, brushing their hair out of their face as they tried to form a plan.

_Hey, are you okay? You’re really tense right now._

_Frisk?_

“Please be quiet, for just a second,” they pleaded under their breath, their voice barely a whisper. 

Chara went silent, but Frisk could still feel their presence. It was comforting, in a way.

Frisk twiddled their fingers, trying to concentrate. They knew their plan had flaws, that much was evident, but they knew that they could convince other humans that monsters were okay. As long as their return didn’t make waves, they would be able to stay with Toriel and Asgore, and people would listen to them, they knew it. They had to convince the world that monsters meant them no harm.

The light swept over them, and Frisk froze, Chara pushing them to action. _Stay on your feet, Frisk. We’ve come this far, we can’t just fail now._

The owner of the flashlight stepped forward, and Frisk could see his eyes widen in the moonlight. “You’re that kid who went missing last week!”

Frisk rolled their eyes. “I have a name, you know.”

As their eyes adjusted to the light, Frisk noticed a second guard standing right behind him. “Dude,” she whispered. “That’s Fa-”

“My name is _Frisk,”_ they said forcefully, preventing them from finishing the sentence.

“R-right. Frisk,” they both said, looking nervous. “How, exactly, did you end up here?”

“Heh, well… you know the story about the monster race being trapped underneath Mt. Ebott? Well, it’s true, and… they’re free now.”

In the back of their mind, they could hear Chara screaming, _Did you really just say that? You absolute idiot! What the heck were you thinking?_

“You… you freed them.”

Frisk narrowed their eyes. “Don’t give me that look,” they said, crossing their arms. “Monsters are nothing to be afraid of. They’ve been nothing but kind to me.”

“Ms. W-”

Frisk glared at them, and if the guards didn’t know any better, they would have thought that their eyes turned red.

(It was actually Chara, but they didn’t need to know that.)

“I am _not_ a girl,” they hissed, fists clenched. “I don’t care what you’ve heard from my parents. I _demand_ an audience with the governor, and you _will_ let us pass.”

This time, the guards actually looked scared of them.

“R-right away,” the male guard said, pulling out a walkie-talkie and turning it on. He walked off, murmuring something that Frisk couldn’t hear. 

The other guard followed him, and Frisk let out a long sigh of relief.

Asriel tapped them on the shoulder, eyes wide. “How did you do that?”

“I… had a conversation? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No, they just… _listened_ to you! Most adults don’t even take kids seriously!”

“...Let’s just say that Determination is a very, _very_ rare soul type.”

“Well, where do we go from here?” Toriel asked.

“We’ll go to the governor’s office, and explain the situation. Humans have mellowed since they sealed monsters in Mt. Ebott, so we should be able to talk about all of this. And I know that I can convince them to let me stay with you guys.”

She didn’t look convinced. “If you say so…”

Frisk led them out of the park, to where a car was waiting for them. After everyone got comfortable, they looked back at everyone. “The ride to the governor’s office should only take about ten minutes.”

“Are you sure we should be bothering him this late?”

“Don’t worry, he’s a friend. He’s actually the first person I ever came out as nonbinary to, and he was really cool about it.”

“Nonbinary?” Asriel asked.

“That means I’m not a girl or a boy.”

“Oh, ok. How many people have you told?”

“Uh, you guys, my friends, and the governor… so that comes to about nine people.”

“...That would mean you only have two friends.”

“Only two really close friends. Everyone else is just an acquaintance.”

“Aw, why?”

“They only wanted to be my friend because of my soul.”

“...what does that mean?”

“...Like I said, a natural Determination soul is very, very rare.”

“How rare?”

“Rare enough that it’s only passed through blood. I’m one of only fourteen Determination souls.”

The group went silent. Finally, Undyne spoke. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. Before I fell down Mt. Ebott, I was in training to become Karatis’s next Sage of Determination.”

“Sage?”

Frisk sighed. “There are seven countries,” they said. “Each country is governed by a Sage’s Council. The only people who are allowed to take a Sage’s position is someone with the proper training and soul type, which is why Determination is so powerful—there are so few of us, but we have the most power.”

“And you’ve been training for… how long, exactly?” Toriel asked, looking skeptical.

“Uh… twelve years, I think? It’s been a long time.”

“...Frisk. You’re twelve years old.”

“Actually, I’m almost thi-”

“That means nothing,” she said. “Did you even have a childhood?”

Frisk went quiet, their hands falling into their lap. 

“Did you get to go to school? Did you get to make friends? Did your parents take care of you? Frisk, none of this is okay!”

“It’s fine,” Frisk snapped, an unusual anger in their voice. “I’m fine. I turned out fine, didn’t I?”

“Frisk…”

They looked away, hugging themself tightly.

“Frisk… did your parents tell you that they loved you?”

They inhaled sharply, squeezing themself even tighter.

Rage burned in Toriel’s eyes. She clenched her fists, placing a hand on Frisk’s shoulder.

“My child,” she whispered. “No matter what happens next, I will do whatever it takes to keep you with us. You don’t de—no, they don’t deserve someone like _you.”_

Frisk could feel tears welling up in their eyes, and they wiped them away, their hands trembling. In the back of their mind, they could feel Chara waking up again.

_Hey, what’s wrong?_

They blinked as Asriel pulled them into a hug. “It’s okay, Frisk,” he said. “It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay.”

_Oh, god, Frisk, what happened?_

“Just a minute,” they whispered, drawing a hum of questioning from Asriel.

“Chara,” they whispered. “They want to know what’s going on.”

“We can explain later. For now, we just have to talk to the governor, ‘kay? Look at this one step at the time.”

_Frisk. What happened?_

_I’m not going to leave you alone until you say something._

“I can’t talk to you right now,” they hissed. “We’re around everyone else.”

“Asriel? Frisk? Are the two of you alright?” Asgore asked. 

“I’m just comforting them,” Asriel said. “They’re having a tough time.”

The car fell into silence, and a few minutes later, they slowed down. The door opened, and one of the guards from earlier opened the door. “We’re here. Governor Quinn is waiting for you.”

Frisk stretched, wiping their eyes one last time before stepping out of the car. The others followed suit, following them into the office. They caught strange looks from the guards, choosing to avoid them. 

Governor Logan Quinn was standing in the lobby, a smile on his face as he noticed their entrance. “Frisk. It’s good to have you back.”

“It’s nice to see you, too,” they said, beaming. “Sorry for asking you to come here this late… I know it’s probably a little weird.”

“No, no, it’s alright,” he said. “I was just glad to hear of your safe return. Everyone was worried about you.”

“Huh, I wouldn’t have guessed.”

“Come on, Frisk… The whole country was looking for you.”

“I was being completely serious.”

Behind them, Toriel let out a snort of contempt.

Logan sighed, waving at the guards to signal for them to leave. “You’re dismissed.”

The guards saluted, walking out of the room immediately, and Logan turned his attention to Frisk. “So you did exactly what I told you _not_ to do.”

“Couldn’t help myself… I just wanted to give everyone a happy ending…”

He sighed. “I swear, kid, someday it’s going to be the death of you.”

“Oh, believe me, it already has.”

“Uh, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“...Nothing,” Frisk said. “But, um, we kinda need to figure out what we’re going to do from here on out.”

“You’re telling me you did this, and you didn’t even have a plan for what to do afterwards.”

“Um…”

Logan shook his head, sighing. “I should have expected this.”

Frisk crossed their arms, looking down. “I’m…”

_Don’t apologize. You did what you thought was right, and you need to stand by that._

“I’m not sorry.”

Logan’s eyes widened, and he chuckled. “You’re a good kid, Frisk, but you need to be more careful.”

“Look, can we just get this over with?”

Logan sighed. “Who’s the leader?”

Asgore raised his hand, looking over at Toriel. She looked away from him, placing a hand on Asriel’s shoulder. He sighed. “I am the King.”

Logan nodded. “Let’s get everything sorted out, and finish some political matters, and we can work out where we’re going to go from here.”

Frisk stepped towards the door, before stopping when Logan shot them a look. “What are you doing?”

“Frisk… you don’t have to be a part of this conversation,” he said. “I know it must have been a long week for you. Take a break. Drink some water. Get some sleep. You deserve it.”

Frisk halted, looking back at the group. Slowly, they moved to take a seat next to Toriel and Asriel, before walking away. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  
  


As Frisk shut the door behind them, Chara finally forced their way to the front of their consciousness. “Are you finally gonna talk?”

_It’s a long story,_ they admitted.

“I don’t want to know the whole thing. Just tell me why you were breaking down in the car.”

_How do you know what a car is?_

“I know pretty much everything you know, Frisk.”

_So then you already have your answer._

“Well,” Chara said, “not exactly. There’s certain things you’ve put a huge wall around, that even I can’t get through. There’s some things you just don’t want me to know.”

_…_

“Frisk?”

_So you can’t see anything I don’t want you to see?_

“I just said that.”

_...Chara, what was your family like?_

“Eh, not the best,” they said, shrugging. “They never really cared about me, you know? My brother was always the more impressive one.”

_Why?_

“Uh… he and I were both born with a Determination soul. But, well, since I was born female, they always picked him over me. Charlie was always the most important one, since he was a boy and apparently boys were the only ones worth anything back in the day.”

_...I’m sorry._

“Don’t worry about it. I have you guys now, I don’t need anyone else,” Chara said. “Now, about that little breakdown earlier…”

Frisk sighed. _It’s personal._

“Yeah, and I just shared something personal with you. Spill it.”

_...I wouldn’t call them abusive, but…_

“But?”

_Some of my training to become the next Sage of Determination… well, I wouldn’t say they coddled me at all._

“What did they do to you?”

_Chara, I-_

**_“I asked you a question, Frisk.”_ **

_A… a lot of stuff. They never actually_ hurt _me, technically… but some of the stuff I’ve been through has been pretty mentally scarring._

Chara could feel something beginning to crack, and they looked around Frisk’s mindspace, seeing one of the walls cracking. Outside, they could hear sniffling.

“Keep it together,” they whispered. “I can’t have you falling apart here.”

**Because if they fall apart, then I might fall apart, and if I fall apart and can't hold anything back, then Frisk might remember the g-**

_Chara? Are you okay?_

“I’m fine,” they said, shutting their eyes tight and trying their best to block out the memories, and they just barely managed to retreat from the mindscape before they were thrown back into the past.

  
  


_Oh, god, the bloodshed was never going to stop._

_Chara could only look on in horror as Frisk, their_ friend, _killed everyone they had ever loved—and even some people they’d yet to get to know. It wasn’t fair. Why were they doing this? What had compelled them to do this? Chara thought that they would be_ good. _What was their reason?_

_Why did they kill Toriel, who showed them nothing but love and kindness? Who baked them one of her special butterscotch-cinnamon pies, and don’t think Chara didn’t notice that tiny hint of chocolate. It was something she’d added to the recipe after they had fallen down._

_Why Papyrus, who always offered a smile and plate of spaghetti? Who was just trying to make a new friend, but was too naïve to know he was dealing with a murderer?_

_Why that kid, who they viewed as just “in their way?” They were just a child, just like Chara and Frisk. They didn’t deserve to die. Nobody deserved to die._

_Why Undyne, the last defense of both humans and monsters? All she wanted was to be a hero. All she wanted was to protect everyone._

_Why Mettaton, who they both had previously thought was just a fame-obsessed robot, but truly wanted to save everyone? He was_ defenseless _against them, and Frisk knew. Why hit someone who’s practically already been defeated?_

_At that rate, Chara was convinced that killing Sans was_ their _form of mercy. Everything he knew and loved had been torn away from him, and there was no reason to continue. If anything, they were doing him a favor._

_They couldn’t keep watching at Asgore. He was just misunderstood. He just wanted to fix everything that Chara had so carelessly ruined. He just wanted to see the sun again, and Frisk dusted him like he meant nothing to anyone. But wasn’t that how they saw the world, now? Would they destroy Chara, too, if they got in their way?_

_Chara couldn’t stand by anymore when Flowey popped up for the last time. They didn’t know why the flower insisted on being their friend, why he kept calling Frisk their name, why he was so_ scared _of dying when he was the one who convinced them to kill everyone._

_It was only when he spoke with Asriel’s voice that Chara knew they had to intervene._

_“Please don’t kill me,” Azzy cried, and something began to burn inside them. They couldn’t stop Frisk’s hand as they brought the knife down, tearing their best friend to shreds, but there was one last thing that they could do._

_Chara had Determination, and they finally knew how to use it._

_As Frisk stepped over the remains of Flowey, walking towards the door, Chara held them back. Their chin was trembling, and tears threatened to spill, but they refused to give up._

_“Stop,” Frisk said, but Chara didn’t let go._

_“Why?” they asked. “What made you think this was okay?”_

_“They’re monsters, Chara. It’s in their name. They killed people.”_

_“They were my_ **_family.”_ **

_“Stop holding me back.”_

**_“No.”_ **

_“Quit it.”_

**_“Not until you pay for this.”_ **

_Frisk laughed, something evil that Chara never would have expected to come out of their best friend. “What are you gonna do, send me back in time?”_

**_“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”_ **

_“Heh, you can try. I’m more determined tha—wait, what’s happening?”_

_Chara held onto them tightly, taking in all of the Determination they could. They didn’t care that sweat dripped down their face, or that Frisk was fighting back. They just needed to do one last thing. One last act, and they could go back to the very, very beginning of this._

_They could go all the way back to their death. They couldn’t change the outcome, but it would give them time to fix themself. To rid themself of the hate that their “best friend” had forced onto them. To save Frisk, and force them to forget that any of this had ever happened._

**_*Chara chose to ERASE._**

  
  
  


_Chara? Chara! Wake up!_

Their eyes shot open, and they saw Frisk hovering above them. Their form was surrounded by a reddish glow, and their friend sighed in relief. “You were unconscious when I fell asleep,” they explained.

“I’m fine,” Chara said, leaning forward and throwing their arms around Frisk. “How about you? No bad dreams, right?”

“I’m okay,” they said, smiling. There was no trace of the genocidal monster that Chara had been forced to help so long ago.

“Good,” Chara whispered. _I took that away from you for a reason, Frisk._

_If you ever found out, you wouldn’t ever forgive yourself._

“I left the bathroom a little while ago,” they said. “Toriel was getting worried, since I’d been there for a while. I fell asleep in the office, and wanted to check on you.”

“I’m fine, Frisk,” they said. “Get some rest. Seriously, it’s been a long day.”

Frisk rolled their eyes, pulling Chara into a hug. “Well, I’m staying here with you.”

“Hey-”

“I’m still sleeping,” they said, snorting. “It’s just more comfortable with you.”

Chara pulled them close, holding them until they drifted off to sleep. 

As soon as they could feel Frisk’s even breathing, they sighed heavily, looking down at their friend. It was impossible to carry the memories of so many Resets, each time with what seemed like a different person. A different version of the human being that was Frisk.

Sometimes they hated Chara. Sometimes they wanted to be friends. Sometimes they loved Chara.

...That timeline was a little weird.

But this was by far the best ending. They had their happy ending. Everyone was on the surface, and Asriel was back home, and they had a new life.

But Chara knew they would never be satisfied until they had the best possible ending. They knew that Frisk wouldn’t ever stop.

Chara just had to hope that they wouldn’t Reset again, because they would be powerless to stop them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos and comments would be much appreciated! they really inspire me to keep writing :)


	3. Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mettaton arrives, Sans and Undyne have a chat about how to run a town, and Toriel finds out something she's not supposed to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was beta read by two of my absolutely amazing friends, ezra and kayden <3 love ya both

_Running system check…_

_All systems functional. Loading proj.MTTEX.exe…_

_Installing update 6: Updated battery capacity…_

_All systems functional. Activating..._

The robot’s eyes slowly opened, and he saw flashes of yellow and white as he blinked rapidly, his eyes adjusting to the sudden light.

As Mettaton awoke, he slowly noticed Alphys typing on a computer to his right. She seemed completely engrossed in her work, and he quietly tapped out a beat on the table with his fingers to alert her that he was awake.

Alphys flinched in shock, her finger accidentally tapping something else on the keyboard. She quickly deleted it, saying, “Mettaton! You’re up!”

He nodded, leaning back and stretching. He didn’t _need_ to, but it felt good to work his joints every once in a while to make sure that they were still moving smoothly. 

“Freshly oiled?” he asked, noting the smoothness of his movements.

Alphys nodded. “Just a few minutes ago,” she said distractedly, as if her mind was someplace else. 

He frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“Just a little distracted,” she whispered. “Trying to figure out what to do with my lab and stuff, now that we’re on the Surface.”

“...What?”

“Oh, I forgot… I should have included that in the update.” She blushed. “Well, we’ve been on the Surface for about two weeks now… most people have taken to us pretty well. Uh, the prince of monsters has returned, and we’re setting up settlements on the Surface world… gosh, Metta, there’s _so much stuff_ that I have to tell you…”

“Take it one thing at a time,” he said. “But… I do have a question.”

“What’s up?”

“...Is the human dead?”

Alphys gasped. “Oh, god no!” she said. “It’s a long story, but apparently all monster souls combined have the power of one human soul. The prince used that power to break the barrier.”

“Alphys, darling… I’m wildly confused.”

“W-well, I wouldn’t expect you to understand everything immediately,” she said, flustered. “Ugh… let me just start from the beginning. Metta… you remember the True Lab, right?”

Mettaton stiffened. “Well… it’s quite hard to forget something like that.”

“Well,” she whispered, “one of my experiments included a flower that had grown from the seeds that stuck to Prince Asriel’s sweater when he fell down. That flower had some of his dust on it, and so he was reincarnated as a flower.”

“I’m afraid that I don’t follow.”

“Do you remember a talking flower?”

“...Somewhat?”

“That was the prince.”

“...Dear God, Alphys.”

“Heh… yeah, that was a little weird,” she said. “But he absorbed all six souls and the monster souls, helping him to regain his proper form, because it turns out that all he needed was a monster soul to turn back into himself. After he was defeated—or saved, I don’t really get what happened—by Frisk, they came to me with the option to actually bring him back.”

“Frisk?”

“The human. That’s their actual name.”

“Oh. So what happened next?”

“Well, the queen and king-”

“The Queen?”

“Yeah, Queen Toriel. She ran off to the Ruins after the deaths of her children, and only came back to save Frisk from Asgore. Anyways, Toriel, Asgore, and Frisk were all there while I performed the procedure, which added a lot of pressure onto the whole thing, but I did it perfectly! Asriel’s alive, and living with his mother and sibling… well, the adoption is still a work in progress because Frisk has living parents but they’re living happily together.”

“What about Asgore?”

“Oh, Toriel kicked him out. Something about her thinking her kids weren’t safe around him, which… to be honest, is a completely reasonable assumption.”

Mettaton nodded. “And what about you?”

“M-me? Oh, there’s not much going on… uh, I moved in with Undyne in New Snowdin, and we live next to Papyrus and Sans. I really don’t know how, but Asgore let me keep my job, so Undyne and I are working on setting up a lab on the Surface, and I’ll be able to continue my research and bring the CORE technology to the humans. That’ll make huge strides in our relationships… But Undyne’s told me not to worry for now. She says I’ve been doing great, and I need a break. I mean, I don’t really agree, but… a break would be pretty nice.”

Mettaton chuckled. “So when’s the wedding?”

Alphys gasped, her yellow complexion flushing peach. “I, um… well, I wanted to, but… I just don’t have the confidence to propose to her! I mean, I have a ring and everything, but… I’m just too scared. I just don’t know what to do… Undyne’s so strong and amazing, and I’m just a wimpy nerd…”

Mettaton narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you dare call yourself that, darling. You’re intelligent, and you have a huge heart, and…”

“And?”

“You made my body,” he said quietly. “You didn’t even know me, and yet, you still made me _this._ Alphys, you may be selfish and cowardly at times, but you truly care about your friends.”

“...but I could have gotten Frisk killed, and I lied to everyone…”

“You didn’t actively try to kill them, though,” Mettaton said, looking away. “Besides… I think I owe you an apology.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve been a terrible friend to you,” he confessed. “The only reason I’ve talked to you was to ask if my body was done, and I’ve just completely ignored your calls… I let the fame that _you_ helped me obtain get to my head, and I’m sorry.”

Alphys sighed. “I don’t blame you,” she said quietly. “I’ll admit, I was a little sad when you stopped returning my calls, but I didn’t want to-”

“You were more than a little sad,” he said. “Alphys, I know you. You’re my best friend. I shouldn’t have left you behind.”

“Metta…”

“And I promise that I won’t leave you behind again,” he said. “I’ve already been planning what I’m going to do when I reach the Surface… would you like to go on tour with me? I’m already assembling a band… but it won’t be complete without you. I wouldn’t be complete without you.”

Surprisingly, Alphys reached out and hugged him. “Mettaton, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He chuckled. “Me neither.”

  
  
  


Sans hadn’t realized how much work running a town required.

He and Undyne were constantly running around New Snowdin, the two of them somehow being elected the settlement’s leaders. The monster-populated town took a lot of work to keep running, and that was with the two of them frequently visiting the governor’s office to get building permits.

Currently, he and Undyne were at Grillby’s in the Underground, where the cook was still setting up shop. Most of the monsters were still living in the Underground, with the exception being the few monsters who currently lived in New Snowdin.

As they received their food, Undyne pushed her meal off to the side, focusing intently on the plans in front of her. “So, we were granted about two hundred more acres… we have about half a square mile of land now. How should we set all of this up?”

Sans took a bite of his burger, shrugging. “i dunno. you’re the one who’s good at all this stuff.”

Undyne scoffed. “You know, you’re gonna have to contribute eventually,” she said. “You’re not my co-mayor for no reason.”

“yeah, i’ve figured out that i’m only really here to keep the people satisfied.”

“Shut up!” she said. “Sans, you’re doing a lot more than that, but we need to figure out how to set up New Snowdin right now. That’s where your efforts need to be focused, not that burger.”

“actually, i feel like your efforts should be focused on that burger instead of your work,” he pointed out. “undyne, i haven’t seen you rest in over a week. the amount of effort you’re putting into this is insane, but everyone needs a break once in a while.”

“All you ever do is take breaks!”

“eh, i still get my work done. ask papyrus. it drives him crazy.” He placed a hand over the sheets, making eye contact with Undyne. “take a break. please. you need it.”

“Sans-”

“don’t think i don’t see you up at night, pacing around the house,” he said. “you leave the blinds open by accident, and i can see you pacing. i know alphys has been trying to get you to sleep, but she can’t do much. so tonight, we’re going to eat, put away work for the night, and get some sleep, because you deserve it.”

“But I can’t just abandon this. The entire Underground is-”

“no, not really,” Sans said. “the only part of the underground that’s depending on us to save it is snowdin. toriel’s already evacuated all the monsters from the ruins, and they and the waterfall monsters are staying in new home, under asgore’s jurisdiction. alphys is taking care of hotland. we’re in charge of snowdin.”

“I just… so many people are unsatisfied right now, and I want to fix it.”

“i know and you’re doing a wonderful job,” Sans said. “but you’ve been working nonstop for the past two weeks. everyone can see how tired you are. undyne, sometimes you have to admit that you’re not actually invincible. you’re just as affected by everything that’s going on right now as we are, and everyone’s proud of you for staying so strong, but you need to stop pushing yourself. you’re past your limit, and soon, you’re going to crash.”

Undyne narrowed her eyes, and they stared at each other for what seemed like years, until she relaxed, slumping against her seat. “I… guess you’re right,” she said, slightly blushing. “I can’t remember the last time I got a good night’s sleep.”

Sans grinned. “so you’re finally gonna listen to me now?”

Undyne rolled her eyes. “Just this once, you punk.”

She shut her eyes for a moment, rubbing them, before sighing. “How do you and Papyrus do it?”

“do what?”

“How do you stay so optimistic?”

“pal, besides asgore, i’m probably the most pessimistic person you’ll ever meet.”

“Uh, okay, maybe optimistic isn’t the right word… how are you two so uplifting?”

“what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s just… so _easy_ to be around you guys. Half the time, it seems like bad stuff doesn’t even affect you. How do you just let it slide off?”

“well, you can start by not taking every challenge like a personal attack.”

“That’s not what I meant,” she snapped.

“and _that’s_ exactly what i meant. sometimes, you just need to _chill_ out.”

“I thought this was gonna be a _normal_ evening!”

Sans shrugged. “snow joke, undyne. i’m up to snow good.”

“Oh my God, stop.”

He chuckled, raising his hand and calling for the tab. “let’s get out of here. we can eat at home, where it isn’t as loud.”

“We’re seriously going all the way back to the Surface this late? That’s exactly what Frisk said not to do.”

“between you and me, i think we’ll be fine.”

“We’re two defeneseless monsters.”

“people literally call you the spear of justice, undyne.”

“Okay, but what about you?”

He shrugged. “i have my bones. i’ll be good.”

“Not everyone is like the Snowdin Canine Unit. They aren’t just gonna chase after your bones.”

“yes, but they’ll be very confused, and then we can run.”

“Why do I think this will work?”

“eh, i’m pretty smart.”

“Yeah… speaking of that, you’ve worked with Alphys before, right?”

“we were in college together. not much beyond that, but i did help her with some lab projects. why’d you wanna know?”

“Oh… no reason,” she said, but the fond look on her face said otherwise. 

Sans grinned. “geez, you’re head over heels for her, aren’t ya?”

“What’s not to love?”

“the amalgamate experiments.”

“...You make a good point, but they were accidents. And I know it’s not up to me to forgive her for that, but… I still love her anyways. She cared about them, you know. She cared about everything.”

“i sure hope she did. those monsters deserved love.”

“And instead, they got eternal suffering,” she whispered. “At least they’ve been put out of their misery.”

“yeah, and the prince’s returned, so that’s another good thing… at least what was left of their souls went to something good.”

“Oh, yeah, how are the Dreemurrs doing? I haven’t had a chance to check with Asgore lately…”

“asgore’s pretty down in the dumps because toriel kicked him out. but at the very least, i’ve never heard toriel so happy before. asriel seems to be having a great time on the surface with his family, and frisk…”

“What’s the pause for?”

“...i’m pretty sure they’re hiding something.”

Undyne stiffened. “Like what?”

“well, i don’t really know, but… every once in a while, i’ll see them just staring off into space. sometimes, they talk to themself, but they address themself like they’re something else. it’s the same way that it was when we first went to the surface, and we met the governor, how frisk was talking to themself, and i heard them say something else to asriel.”

“What did they say?”

“you can’t mention anything about this to anyone.”

“Sans…”

Sans looked around, making sure that nobody else was listening. “when they were talking to asriel, they said that someone named chara wanted to know what was going on. after about a minute, they said, ‘i can’t talk to you right now. we’re around everyone else.’ sounds pretty suspicious to me.”

Undyne flinched, hissing. “I swear, I’ve heard that name before.”

“yeah, i think i have, too.”

Undyne shut her eyes, trying to recall where she had heard it before. An afternoon having tea with Asgore came to mind, and she gasped. 

“Chara was the name of the first fallen human. Asgore told me… apparently, before Asriel’s death and Toriel’s departure, they had taken the kid in. They died of sickness, and Asriel died trying to take them to the surface.”

Sans’s eyes darkened, until Undyne couldn’t see any light left in them. “so the first fallen human is either haunting or possessing frisk.”

“...Oh, god.”

“something’s going on, undyne. we need to figure out what it is.”

“Oh, God, what are we going to tell Asgore and Toriel?”

“We’re not.”

Undyne flinched at his harsh tone. “Huh?”

Sans’s eyes were still black. “Undyne, I’ve spent more time around the kid than you. Whoever this ‘Chara’ is, I can tell they’re looking out for Frisk. It’ll be their decision to tell Toriel and Asgore about them.”

“...You’re speaking in caps.”

Sans leaned back, shrugging. “it was a pretty heavy situation. caps seemed necessary.”

She let out a sigh. “You’re back to normal.”

He grinned at Grillby as he dropped off the tab and a couple boxes for the food. “just needed to get that through to you.”

They paid for the food and put it in boxes, with Undyne carrying them as they walked out of the restaurant. As they approached the river, Sans stopped their advance.

“just to make sure of two things: one, tonight’s conversation stays between us, and two, we’re going straight home, eating, and then going to bed. no questions asked.”

“Ugh, fine,” she said, hopping into the boat, and they sat in silence on their way back to Hotland.

As they got off the boat, Sans jogged up the path, but Undyne stayed back for a moment. She had noticed that the Riverperson was looking at her very strangely. 

She squared her shoulders, keeping a tight grip on her food. “You need something?”

The Riverperson raised their head, and a shiver ran down Undyne’s spine. It felt like they were staring into her soul. “Beware of the demon that comes when you call its name,” they whispered, “for they may not be who you think.”

“...What?”

But the Riverperson was already gone.

Undyne turned back towards the path. “The demon that comes when you call its name,” she whispered. “Who could that be?”

As she walked into the elevator, she was filled with a foreboding sense of determination.

  
  
  


Toriel closed the door to Frisk and Asriel’s room behind her, sighing. The two had chosen to spend time with their father, and while she couldn’t prevent that, she was still fearful. She… despite the fact that she knew that Asgore wouldn’t harm her children, she was still afraid.

Shaking her head, she stepped towards the window, frowning when her foot hit something. She had been walking next to Frisk’s bed, and her foot had hit something under their bed.

Toriel knelt down and picked up the object, which looked like a book. She turned on the lamp, examining the title. “Properties of the Human Soul,” she murmured, reading off of the front cover. “My child, why would you be reading this?”

One page was bookmarked, and she flipped to it, frowning as she read the section that Frisk had highlighted.

_If a human’s SOUL is separated from their body, the human’s body could live on as long as the soul was still alive. The soul would have to be recombined with the body, and the body could not be grievously wounded, but the human would be able to feasibly live a normal life._

Beside the section, Frisk had scribbled several annotations, but the one sentence that Toriel could actually read had her dropping the book in shock.

_Reconnected souls… potential for Chara?_

No, God no, it couldn’t be possible…

How did Frisk know that name?

So many thoughts were swirling around Toriel’s mind that she didn’t notice when the door opened, and she could hear Frisk’s voice saying, “We’re back… oh God.”

It was obvious that they had noticed the book that lay at Toriel’s feet, and as she watched, their skin grew pale, and… and their eyes changed color to a familiar shade of amber, one that had used to bring light to her life every time she saw them.

Chara’s eyes.

Her child stared back at her, their facial features slack, and Toriel noted that they were slightly trembling. She attempted to reach out, but they flinched back, and she gasped. The mannerism was so similar to theirs… could it truly be?

With a pain in her chest, Toriel tried to express her thoughts, but only one word managed to make it out.

“...Chara?”


	4. Small Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After three hundred years, Chara finally gets to truly reunite with their family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much to my amazing friend and beta reader, ezra <3 they're the sweetest, most supportive human being alive

Oh,  _ no. _

Oh, no, no, no, no.

Frisk bolted down the stairs, pushing past Asriel and running for the back door. Behind them, they could hear Toriel yelling their names, and they barely bit back a scream. They knew what could happen if they made her angry. They didn’t want to deal with another parent’s wrath. They didn’t mean to make her angry. They were just trying to fix everything. They didn’t understand-

_ You need to calm down. Toriel wouldn’t hurt you, _ Chara reassured.  _ She’s kind. She loves you. She wouldn’t hurt you. _

But they had seen Toriel’s wrath. They didn’t want to risk activating her anger again. No, no, no, not fire. Fire was terrible, and painful, and it hurt so badly being burned and-

And Toriel wouldn’t hurt them. She may have hurt Frisk before, on accident… but she wouldn’t risk doing the same to Chara.

_ Let me take control,  _ they whispered, reaching out a spectral hand and placing it on Frisk’s shoulder.  _ It’ll be okay. _

Chara could feel how badly they were trembling as they tried to open the door, and they took Frisk’s hands off the knob, placing them down at their sides.

Asriel was at their side instantly, taking their hand and looking at them with concern. “Frisk? Chara? Are you okay?”

_ No, no no no I’m not okay no she’s going to be so upset why aren’t you running Chara I trusted you you’re going to get us killed- _

“We’re fine,” Chara said.

Asriel let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, why did you freak out?”

“Toriel knows about me.”

Asriel’s grip on their hand stiffened, and Frisk’s protests grew louder. “Oh, geez… I know you wanted to tell her, but not like-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Toriel had made it down the stairs, and Chara forced themself to turn around, meeting her gaze.

“H-hey, Mom,” they said. “Long time, no see, huh?”

Toriel gasped, tears filling her eyes. “It really is you,” she whispered. “My child…  _ Chara…” _

“I missed you,” they whispered. “I missed you a lot.”

_ She’s… she’s not upset? She’s not angry we were keeping secrets? _

“No,” Chara said under their breath. “Frisk, she’s  _ happy.” _

There was a flash of white, and before they could do anything about it, Toriel had wrapped them up in a tight hug. “My child,” she whispered, her voice wavering. “I… I am so happy to see you.”

“Me too,” they said. “It’s good to be able to talk to you.”

They stood like that for another minute, Toriel holding onto Chara so tightly that they thought their ribs might crack, before she gently let go, taking their hand and leading them to sit down. “Why… why did you not say anything about this before?” she asked.

“...Frisk was afraid,” they said. “They were worried about how you might react, especially after your reaction to the news that Asriel was alive. Besides, by the time that they learned who I actually was, we had already left the Ruins, and you had asked them not to come back…”

Toriel’s shoulders slumped. “I… what have I done?” she whispered. “My own child is afraid of me…”

“I don’t think it’s all you,” Chara said quietly. “From what I can tell… Frisk didn’t have the best home life.”

_ Don’t speak for me. _

Chara frowned. “That was… cold…”

“What did you say, my child?”

“Nothing… I’m just a little worried about Frisk.”

_ stop talking about me. _

Chara bit their lip. “...Something’s wrong.”

_ please. _

“I’m sorry… I’ll be right back.” Chara closed their eyes and fell back into the mindscape.

  
  


Chara opened their eyes again, seeing Frisk curled up in a little ball in front of them. “Please don’t come any closer,” they cried. “I can’t take it anymore.”

“...Frisk?”

They let out a choking sob, and Chara knew they had to intervene.

They reached out, placing a hand on their shoulder, and Frisk cried out, leaping into their arms as Chara rubbed circles on their back. “Shh,” they whispered. “It’ll be okay, Frisk. Nobody is going to hurt you.”

Frisk was trembling in their arms as Chara held them tightly, trying to calm them down. “Everything is going to be okay,” they said. “I promise, and you know how seriously we take promises…”

Frisk let out a shaky breath before all the tension in their body melted away. “And you’re sure she’s not upset?”

“I think she was just shocked,” they replied. “I mean, if I was in her position, I would be too… she’s been through a lot of heartache, and knowing that I’ve been here the whole time probably amplified that, but she loves us a lot. She would never intentionally hurt us.”

“What about everything that happened in the Ruins, though? When we tried to leave?”

“She was afraid, Frisk,” Chara whispered. “By that time in her life, Toriel had lost eight children. She didn’t want to lose another.”

“Oh my God,” they whispered. “I… how did I never figure that out?”

“You were preoccupied with other things,” they said, “and you were afraid. I don’t blame you for thinking of yourself, Frisk. But as much as I supported you, I felt Toriel’s pain too.”

“If you felt her pain, then why didn’t you make me stay?”

_ Believe me, I tried to, in the very, very beginning. _

“Because I knew we had to finish this. We had to save everyone.”

“How did you  _ know, _ though?”

Chara bit their lip, holding onto Frisk tighter. “I’ve seen things nobody should ever have to see.”

“Like what?”

_ God, Frisk, please stop asking me questions I can’t answer. _

“Death,” they replied. “Lots and lots of death.”

“Oh.”

They were quiet for a moment, before speaking up again. “I’m sorry, Chara. That must have been terrible.”

“It was,” Chara said, nodding with their hands trembling as they tried to hold onto Frisk tightly. Their friend already felt sad enough for them, having to see all of that, but how would they feel if they knew that they were the one who murdered everyone?

The two of them sat in silence for a while, until Frisk tugged on Chara’s arm. “I wanna go out.”

“It’s your body. Do whatever you want.”

“...I need to apologize to Toriel.”

“She doesn’t want an apology, Frisk.”

“But I kept so many things from her-”

“And I was a part of that too,” they said. “She is not going to be upset with you. I promise.”

Frisk nodded, closing their eyes, and when they opened them again, they were in bed.

They groaned, looking to the side and seeing Toriel and Asgore sitting together. “When did he get here?” they asked.

“Just a few minutes ago,” Asgore replied. “I must admit, Toriel gave me quite the shock when she called.”

“...Sorry,” they mumbled.

“What do you have to be sorry for, my child?”

“I… I shouldn’t have kept this secret,” Frisk whispered. “If I had just been honest from the start, maybe things would have ended differently.”

Asgore seemed to be holding his breath. “So it’s true,” he whispered. “Chara is alive.”

“In me… somehow. I think my soul awakened them from death, and our two souls combined. They’ve been following me throughout our whole adventure, offering advice and telling me how to do things.”

“Can… can they hear us right now?”

_ I’m always listening. _

“They’re always listening.”

He looked conflicted. “May… may we speak with them?”

Frisk closed their eyes again, letting their control slip as Chara briskly took their place.

  
  
  


Chara let out a long sigh, fatigued from the frequent switching of control. They looked over at their parents, waving, and Toriel let out a choking sob. “It’s just so hard to believe,” she forced out, and they noticed that she was holding Asgore’s hand.

Well, that was an unexpected development.

“Chara?” Asgore asked softly. 

“Yeah?”

“We… had a question for you.”

Chara leaned back, pulling the blankets up to their chest. “What is it?”

“We… we saw those tapes in Alphys’s lab.”

All the color drained from their face as they stared at their family, lost for words. “I…”

Toriel looked at them, centuries of pain reflected in her eyes. “Why did you do it?”

“...I couldn’t keep going, not after seeing what had happened and knowing that there was  _ something _ I could do about it. And… and I knew you would never agree with me, so I convinced Azzy to take my soul, a-and I tried to make him hurt people and I’m the reason he died and I’m s-so sorry-”

They didn’t notice that they were panicking until someone laid a hand on their shoulder, pulling them into a tight hug. “Do not be upset, my child,” Toriel whispered. “We… we are so happy to have you back.”

“I’m happy to be here.”

They yawned, the fatigue from switching and tiredness from their long day finally getting to them. “I’m… I’m tired.”

Toriel patted their head. “Go to sleep, my child. Everything will be alright.”

Chara nodded, leaning against her and closing their eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.

  
  


Gently, Toriel laid Chara down on their bed, pulling the covers up to their neck and tucking them in. She planted a soft kiss on their forehead, like she did when Asriel and Chara were younger, and turned to face Asgore.

“So,” she whispered, careful not to wake them. “What do we do now?”

“I’m not sure,” he answered, looking sheepish. “I had no idea that…”

“Believe me, neither did I,” Toriel said, kneeling down and picking up the book that she had seen earlier. “But… there was a section in this that I think you need to look at.”

She handed it to Asgore, who flipped through the pages, his eyes growing wide as he read over the highlighted section. “I… How did you find this?”

“It was under their bed,” Toriel said. “I think they were trying to hide it.”

Asgore sighed, placing the book on the bedside table. “I… I think that Alphys would be able to perform the procedure, but… we’d need Chara’s body, and I don’t-”

“They’re buried in the Ruins,” Toriel said quietly. “I buried them there, where they first fell down.”

“Oh.”

“If we could get their body… Asgore… we could be a family again.” She took a deep breath, clenching her fists. “In no way have I forgiven you for everything you’ve done. This pain will stay with me for the rest of my life…”

She extended a hand, waiting for his response. “But I am willing to tolerate you for the sake of our children.”

After a moment of tension, Asgore took her hand, shaking it. “Perhaps we can try again,” he whispered.

“I find that highly unlikely.”

“Toriel-”

“Do not forget, you killed six of my children.”

“...I understand that nothing I say or do will fix the damage that I have caused, but I regret every single bit of it. Toriel… my heart ached every day that you were gone. You were the love of my life, and I am so sorry that I hurt you so badly. I… don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for the pain I have caused.”

He met Toriel’s eyes, and she was staring at him with emotions that he couldn’t read. “Do not expect sympathy from me,” she whispered. “I… I am willing to accept your presence, but if you push your boundaries, I will not be as kind as I am being right now.”

Asgore nodded. “I promise that I will not break your trust.”

  
  
  


Asriel leaned against a chair at the kitchen table, waiting for his parents to come down the stairs. As soon as he saw their forms approaching, he cleared his throat. “Can I talk to you guys for a second?” he asked.

Toriel and Asgore came to sit at the table, turning their attention to their son. “Asriel… you knew about Chara, didn’t you?” his mother asked.

Asriel nodded, leaning back in his chair. “They asked me to keep their secret.”

“Why did they feel the need to keep it secret?” Asgore asked quietly.

“Both Frisk and Chara were afraid,” Asriel said, “and rightfully so. I… I kinda understand why, but… that’s also not my secret to tell.”

“Could you at least give us a hint?”

Asriel shook his head. “I know you want answers, but… there are some things that I have to keep to myself.”

“Like your and Chara’s plan?” Toriel whispered.

Asriel froze, his breath escaping him. “I…”

“Azzy, I understand that you love your siblings, but you shouldn’t feel the need to lie for them,” Asgore said gently. “Please, just tell us the truth. If Frisk and Chara convinced you to keep a bad secret, we need to-”

“Are you kidding me?” he shouted, slamming his hands on the table. “Do you really not trust us that much? My days of blindly following Chara are  _ over, _ okay? If I thought something bad was going to happen, I would have said something! I’m not stupid!”

“Azzy-”

“And can you please stop butting into our business, for once? For the first time in three hundred years, I’m happy! I have my family back, and I have a soul, and… and getting so worked up is going to tear us apart again! Chara didn’t want this getting out until they were ready for this very reason! And the fact that you just went ahead and betrayed their trust like that was the reason that they didn’t-”

“Asriel Dreemurr, you will shut your mouth right now or I’m sending you to bed,” Toriel scolded, glaring at her son. “I was not attempting to invade their privacy, nor was I trying to force them to admit to something they were not ready to say. I understand that there are some things that will always go unsaid, but there is just one thing I want to know.”

Asriel folded his arms, returning her glare.

“Frisk and Chara… they do not hate us, do they?”

That… that was not the question that Asriel had been expecting.

“N-no,” he said, stumbling over his words. “They just… they’re afraid. And for good reason, too.”

“What reason?” she asked, her voice pained. “What reason did I give my children to be afraid of me?”

“You attacked them for just wanting to leave the Ruins, Mom,” he said. “You a-almost killed them. Anyone would be scared after that.”

Toriel looked down at her feet, growing warm with shame. “I… I see. Thank you, Asriel.”

“I’m sorry for yelling,” he said quietly. “It’s just… I got caught up in the heat of the moment, and I was upset, and I was worried for them.”

“No, I understand,” she said. “We have  _ all _ said things we didn’t mean in the heat of the moment.” Toriel turned her gaze to Asgore, who looked away sadly.

“We’ve come to a decision,” he said, looking at Asriel. “Your mother and I are willing to cooperate for now, if only so that the three of you can have a happy life. If the two of us are ever becoming too much for you… please, say something.”

“I will,” he replied, sighing. “Thanks for listening to me.”

  
  


Alphys opened the door to her house, shivering from the cold of New Snowdin as she closed it behind her. She still wasn’t used to the cold, being native to Hotland, so she had tried to get home as soon as possible.

Mettaton had chosen to stay at the lab until Alphys could figure out how to get him to her house without freezing him. The two of them had tried to come up with an alternative, but he had ultimately chosen to stay in the Underground with his fans. He said that he knew she would figure out a way soon, and told her not to worry.

Alphys put her bag down on the couch, taking deep breaths as she tried to warm up. Tired from the long day at work, she walked upstairs to her and Undyne’s shared bedroom, opening the door and gasping in shock.

Undyne had fallen asleep, taking up nearly the entire bed as she snored. An empty box of takeout was sitting on her bedside table, and for the first time in forever, she looked peaceful. Happy. It brought a smile to Alphys’s face as she whispered, “I guess I can sleep on the couch tonight.”

She changed into her pajamas, going downstairs and making a cup of instant noodles before turning on the TV. She flipped through the channels, not finding anything interesting to watch, and was about to break out her anime collection when she heard a knock on the door.

“Who could be visiting this late at night?” she mumbled, putting down her noodles and pausing the TV. She opened the door, flinching as she saw Toriel and Asgore standing in front of her.

“Y-your Majesties!” she gasped. “What brings you here tonight?”

They exchanged a look, and Asgore spoke. “Alphys, I would just like to thank you first. Our gratitude for the things you have done for us cannot be said in words.”

“O-oh, it’s n-nothing,” she stuttered, blushing. “I… I j-just wanted to fix the bad t-things that I’ve d-done.”

“Well, I cannot express how grateful we are for this,” Asgore said, “but, that being said…”

Alphys held her breath, her heart pounding in her chest.  _ Oh, god, have they reconsidered? Am I still getting fired? _

“If it isn’t too much… we need another favor.”

She gasped in relief, sliding down the door frame. “Oh, thank God,” she whispered.

“Are you alright?” Toriel asked, a touch of concern in her voice.

“I’m f-fine,” she said. “Just a bit w-worried about s-some things.”

Asgore nodded. “Well, if it isn’t too much trouble…”

“W-what do you need my h-help with?”

“Erm… it’s a situation similar to Asriel, except…”

_ Oh, God, _ she thought.  _ Since when have I been in the business of bringing people back to life? _

“You… y-you need s-someone else brought b-back?”

Asgore cringed. “I understand that may be a lot to ask, and I am very grateful for everything you’ve done, but-”

“I-I’ll do it,” she said, her hands shaking. “I… I know I c-can. J-just… do you think we c-could put all of t-this off until t-tomorrow? I’ve h-had a long day…”

“Of course,” Toriel said. “Please, take as much time as you need. I know this is a big request.”

Alphys nodded. “I… I’ll t-try my best.”

“Oh, just one last thing that I felt the need to mention,” Asgore said. “Erm… the child in question is a human.”

If this was an anime, Alphys knew that dramatic music would have started playing to accentuate the dramatic reveal, but nothing happened.

The silence felt empty as Alphys stated at Toriel and Asgore, her face nearly turning red.

“I…” She took a deep breath. “...I’ll t-try my b-best. I p-promise I w-won’t let you down.”

“Thank you, Alphys,” he said quietly. “This means so much to us.”

“We will see you tomorrow,” Toriel added. “Thank you.”

“Y-you’re welcome,” Alphys said, staring as they walked down the path and back to their car, unable to do anything else. The cold air of New Snowdin made her feel numb, making her ignore every other sensation in her body.

Oh, God, what had she gotten herself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you liked the story, please consider leaving a kudos or comment! it just makes my day seeing those in my inbox :)


	5. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family is finally together again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just warning, this is an absolute monster of a chapter lmao (almost 4500 words, in fact)

Undyne woke up the next morning to her phone buzzing, and for a moment, she thought it was just her alarm. She sat up, brushing strands of red hair out of her face before checking her phone. To her surprise, it wasn’t her alarm, but a voicemail from Alphys.

Strangely enough, it was almost eleven in the morning, and her alarm was usually set to 5:30 A.M. She checked her alarm, chuckling when she saw that it had been turned off. Alphys must have really wanted her to get some sleep.

Undyne played the voicemail, yawning and stretching as she listened to her girlfriend’s words.

_ “G-good morning, Undyne! I turned off your alarm so that you could get some extra sleep, seeing as you’ve had a pretty long couple of weeks. I guess you aren’t awake yet, seeing as you didn’t pick up the phone, so I decided to leave a voicemail instead!” _

_ “Who are you talking to?” _

_ “Well, right now, I’m not talking to anybody. I tried to call Undyne, but she didn’t pick up.” _

_ “Oh, well, t-”  _ The rest of the sentence was too quiet to make out.

_ “Frisk says hi… uh, and speaking of them, there’s something I have to let you know really quick. Uh, just let me get to a more quiet place really quick…” _

Undyne heard rustling, and the background noise quieted quickly.  _ “Um, okay, I’m alone now, so… I guess it’s time to explain all of this, huh? _

_ “I should just cut to the chase… Frisk apparently has the soul of the King and Queen’s first human child, Chara.” _

Undyne froze, dropping her phone. She scrambled to pick it up, not wanting to miss any more of the message.”

_ “-ad to find the body, but we’ve found a way to bring them back to life. Asgore and Toriel asked me to help, and so we’re in the Underground right now, trying to find Chara’s body.” _

“Oh my God, Sans was right.”

_ “So… I’m going to be busy pretty much all day today. Sorry. Um… I’ll see you later, Undyne. I love you.” _

The phone beeped, and Undyne’s grip on it slipped. Her phone fell off the bed and onto the carpet, but she couldn’t care less. The Riverperson’s warning kept repeating in her head:  _ “Beware of the demon that comes when you call its name, for they may not be who you think.” _

Undyne didn’t trust them, not one bit. And she didn’t plan on trying.

She changed into a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved, white t-shirt quickly, throwing on one of her heavier winter jackets. She ran across the street, banging on Sans and Papyrus’s door. “Let me in, you punks!” she yelled.

Papyrus opened the door quickly. “Undyne!” he said cheerfully. “Did you just wake up? It’s quite late for you to wake up-”

“I don’t care,” she snapped, sighing when her friend flinched. “Sorry, Paps. I didn’t mean that, but where’s Sans? I need to talk to him.”

“Well, I think he’s still asleep. You could try to wake him up, but-”

“Thanks, Papyrus!” she yelled, bolting up the stairs and throwing open the door to Sans’s room. “Wake up, you lazy idiot! I have news!”

Surprisingly enough, Sans was awake, and he was sitting at his computer, playing some computer game. “what’s up?”

“We need to talk,” she said. “About… you know, what we talked about at Grillby’s last night.”

“yeah, we really do need to talk about you working yourself down to the  _ bone, _ undyne. it’s not healthy.”

“I don’t have time for puns,” she hissed. “And that’s not what I was talking about.”

“you’re gonna have to be more specific than that.”

“...You were right about Chara, Sans.”

Sans instantly stopped moving, slowly looking back towards Undyne. His eyes were dark. “close the door.”

Undyne shoved the door shut, leaning against it so that nobody could get in if they tried.

“tell me you didn’t say anything to tori and asgore.”

“I didn’t say a word,” she said. “I don’t know how they found out, but they know about Chara. And you were right, about them and Frisk. Their souls have been combined, somehow.”

Sans raised an eyebrow. “so everyone knows they exist now, not just you and me. i don’t really understand what the big deal is.”

“They aren’t just leaving Chara and Frisk together, Sans. They’re trying to bring them back to life.”

Sans frowned. “well, it worked perfectly fine with asriel, and the kid didn’t have a soul to start out with. i’m pretty sure it’ll be easier, if anything.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Undyne admitted about. “I don’t trust them, Sans. Something isn’t right about this.”

“you don’t trust a kid you’ve never met? i mean, it’s reasonable, but you aren’t even giving them a chance.”

“That’s still not it. The Riverperson… when we were on our way back to the Surface, they told me to beware the demon that comes when you call its name. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I got that message right after we were talking about Chara.”

“the riverperson’s crazy, undyne. you know that.”

She sighed, feeling defeated. “I know, it’s just… Frisk isn’t a very secretive person at all. Why would they keep this secret? If I was hearing voices in my head, I’d tell someone.”

“they might have had their own reasons. don’t jump to conclusions.”

“Yeah, I know… it’s just, something about them rubs me the wrong way.”

“well, if they do cause trouble, we can stop them, but i don’t think they’re gonna hurt anyone.”

“I really hope you’re right,” she said, sighing. 

There was a knock on the door, and Undyne flinched, one of her spears forming in her hand. “Sans! Undyne!” Papyrus called. “Once you two are done with your talking, I have made a delicious meal for breakfast! Just come down when you are ready!”

Sans shrugged, standing up and stretching. “just chill, undyne. everything’s gonna be okay.”

“I really hope you’re right.”

  
  
  


Frisk held onto Asriel’s hand tightly, following Toriel, Asgore, and Alphys through the Ruins. Their thoughts had been scattered lately, and having someone there to ground them helped them out a lot.

“How are you and Chara doing?” he asked them quietly, squeezing their hand as they walked towards the entrance. He had been talking to them the whole time, not caring if they didn’t respond.

“Tense” was all that Frisk could bring themself to say.

“You know, you don’t have to go through with this,” Asriel said quietly. “I know Alphys said it would hurt really badly, so if you don’t want to go through with it, I’m sure Mom and Dad would understand.”

“It’ll be fine,” they whispered. “We’ve been through pain before. We’ll be okay.”

Asriel looked conflicted. “If you say so,” he said, adjusting his grip on Frisk’s hand. “I trust you guys.”  
As they walked to the very beginning of the Ruins, Toriel knelt beside the patch of flowers that Frisk had fallen on at the beginning of their adventure. “I buried them here,” she whispered, “where they first fell down.”

“How deep?” Asgore asked quietly.

“Not too far,” she said.

Asgore steeled himself for the task at hand. “Well, we must dig them up now. I… thank you for giving them a proper burial, Toriel.”

“I did not want my child’s body to rot away in a coffin in our basement,” she said, a slight hint of anger in her voice. Asgore looked away, ashamed.

“Frisk, Chara, Asriel,” he said softly, “maybe you should sit this one out. We will tell you when we are done.”

Asriel took Frisk’s hand, leading them out of the entrance. “It’s pretty dark down here,” he mused, “compared to the Surface. It’s a little weird… after just a month on the Surface, I can’t imagine growing up here anymore! Crazy, huh?”

“Little bit,” they whispered.

Asriel frowned. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

They lifted their head, and Asriel stifled a gasp when he saw auburn eyes instead of chocolate brown. “Chara?”

“We’re scared,” Chara whispered. “It’s not anything too big, it’s just… what if it doesn’t work out? What if my soul gets trapped in my body, and it still isn’t working? What if I die forever this time? Azzy… I’m not the only one scared. Alphys  _ told _ Frisk that it was gonna feel terrible—well, define terrible! Frisk has  _ died _ before! What kind of pain could possibly be worse than that?”

Asriel pulled them into his arms, squeezing them tightly. “I’m sorry you’re so scared, Chara,” he said. “But think about it this way: soon, you’ll be able to really see us again! You’ll be able to walk, and talk, and  _ exist _ on your own! Doesn’t that sound amazing?”

“What if it doesn’t work out?”

“It will,” he said. “Alphys is a great scientist. After all, if she brought me back to life, what can’t she do?”

“You’re the only one she succeeded in bringing back.”

“Ah, well, that’s a bit different. But I know everything will be okay! You just need to have hope. Hopes and dreams will save the world, right?”

Chara buried their face in his chest, clinging to him tightly. “Promise?”

Asriel’s eyes widened as he felt his sweater growing damp. “Chara… you’re crying.”

“I need you to promise, Azzy,” they whispered. “Promise that Frisk and I will be okay. That we can even handle being separated after this long together.”

“I…”

_ “Please.” _

“I promise,” he whispered, doubt swirling in his stomach.

_ Oh, God, Chara… this isn’t a promise that  _ I _ can make. Why are you asking me? _

“I promise everything will be okay.”

They sat in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other’s presence until Alphys ducked her head into the cave. “Uh, w-we’ve found t-the body…”

Asriel stood up, reaching a hand to help Chara to their feet. “Come on,” he whispered. “It’s time.”

Chara took his hand, and they followed Alphys back to the entrance. They had to stop themself from sobbing when they saw Toriel, crying her eyes out.

Laying in her arms was their body.

They held onto Asriel’s hand so tightly that they were worried that they would break his fingers, trying to calm themself down. He looked over at them, concern filling his gaze. “What’s wrong? You look disturbed.”

“Well, I feel like you would be pretty disturbed if you were looking at your own dead body,” Chara hissed, unable to stop tears from falling down their face. Asriel pulled them into a hug, rocking back and forth.

“Shhh, it’ll be okay,” he whispered, holding them tightly as he threaded his fingers through their hair. “Everything’s gonna be okay soon, alright? I promise.”

They sobbed into his sweater as the small group slowly made their way back to Alphys’s lab. Throughout the whole trip, Asriel held onto Chara tightly, even as they slowly retreated, giving Frisk control of their body.

Halfway through Waterfall, Toriel fell to her knees. “I cannot do it anymore,” she whispered, clinging onto Chara’s body tightly.

Instantly, Asgore was at her side. “What is wrong?” he asked.

“It reminds me too much of the old days,” she said, and Asriel understood what she was trying to say: she couldn’t handle carrying Chara’s body anymore.

“I can take them,” he said, walking over to his parents. “It’ll be okay.”

Toriel frowned. “Asriel, I do not want for you to have to bear this burden-”

“I’ll be fine,” he said, reaching his arms out. “I’ve done this before. It’ll be okay.”

With a conflicted expression, Toriel reached out and lifted his sibling’s body into his arms, and Asriel let out a sigh as the weight settled in his arms. His mother went to comfort Frisk, and they continued on their way.

The rest of the group was silent as they arrived in Hotland, taking the elevator to the True Lab. As soon as they reached the laboratory, Alphys rushed to activate the DT Extractor. “It’ll take a little while to warm up,” she explained, “but once it’s ready, we’ll be able to use it to separate Chara’s Determination from Frisk’s, and use it to recreate their soul.”

“And you’re sure it’ll work?” Frisk murmured, looking nervous at the sight of the machine. Asriel would have placed a hand on their shoulder, but his arms were full.

“It’s worked before,” she whispered. “It’ll work this time.” She looked over to Asriel. “Take Chara’s body to the operating room, and wait in there for a little while, okay? We should be done with this soon.”

“But I-”

“Just do it,” Frisk said. “If this is gonna hurt as bad as Alphys says it will, then I don’t want you to see it.”

Asriel glared at them, before turning around and walking into the other room. The door closed behind him, and he looked at it, before sighing and laying Chara’s body on one of the operating tables. He sat down on the table next to them, sighing. “Well, that was a pretty bad case of déjà vu, huh?”

Asriel looked down at his sibling, biting his lip. He swept some of the dirt off of their sweater, making sure that it looked somewhat clean for when they woke up.

Because they would wake up. He was sure that they would. Alphys was smart. She could do it. He just… he just had to have  _ hope… _

He heard a scream coming from the other room, and bolted to the door, realizing what it was. “Frisk!” he screamed, banging on the door. “Let me in!”

They sounded like they were in so much pain, and he couldn’t let them be hurt. He needed to protect them. He needed… he needed to…

“Please… somebody let me in…”

…

But nobody came.

  
  
  


“What do I need to do?” Frisk asked, looking at the DT Extractor with fear striking the very depths of their soul.

“Just c-climb inside,” Alphys said, her voice shaking. “I’m so sorry. This is going to hurt, a lot.”

“I know,” they said, stepping towards the machine. They walked inside, taking a deep breath as it closed around them, enveloping them in darkness.

“Okay, there should be a chestpiece in there,” Alphys said, her voice quiet. “You have to put it on for this to work.”

“I see it,” Frisk replied, pulling off their sweater so that they were just wearing their undershirt. “Does it have to touch my skin?”

“Yes… and I hate to tell you this now, but it  _ is _ going to puncture your skin—it has to, in order for us to be able to extract the Determination.”

Frisk hummed, pulling off their shirt and wrapping the item around their chest. They pulled their shirt back on over it, leaning against the back of the machine as they waited for the process to begin.

“Are you ready?” Alphys asked.

“Ready when you are.”

“A-alright… I’m starting now.”

Frisk heard a beep, and felt something push into their chest. They gasped at the discomfort, but the pain was nothing compared to Undyne’s spears or… literally any of Asriel’s attacks.

“How do you feel, my child?” Toriel asked.

“Uh… a little uncomfortable, but I’ve felt worse.”

“Oh, God,” they heard Alphys whisper, “they have no idea what’s coming next.”

The pain started out as just a little tickle. Nothing they hadn’t felt before, and it didn’t even hurt that much.

And then it felt like something had stabbed them in the soul.

Frisk cried out in pain, grabbing at their chest, but there was nothing they could do. The pain spread to their entire body, paralyzing them, and they slid to the ground, screaming in pain the whole way. It was unlike anything they’d ever felt before.

_ J-just hold on,  _ Chara yelled, their voice shaking, as if they were hurting too.  _ Everything’s going to be okay. I promise. _

Even Flowey killing them more times than they could count didn’t hurt as bad as this.

_ Please just stay c-calm. It’s o-okay. It’ll be over soon… _

Frisk could feel their presence leaving their mind, and they cried out, reaching for their best friend. “Don’t go,” they cried. “Please, Chara…”

_ You know what we have to do, Frisk. _

And then they were gone, and Frisk cried for their lost friend.

The pain was still there. It was like it was never going to go away, and Frisk hugged their knees tightly, waiting for everything to be over. It was like something was assaulting their very soul… which was probably true, seeing as Alphys had said that their soul had been combined with Chara’s.

They had curled up into a small ball on the floor of the machine, whimpering and waiting for everything to end, when the pain just… stopped. Their whole body was still aching, but the worst was seemingly over. Frisk cried out in relief, sobbing into their hands as the machine opened and someone pulled them into their arms.

“Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Asriel whispered, holding them tightly. “Everything’s over, Frisk. You survived, and I’m proud of you.”

“W-where’s Chara?”

“Alphys is recreating their soul.”

“I… I wanna go home.”

“Uh…” Asriel stammered. “I’m sure we can figure something out.” He could feel the chestpiece underneath their shirt, and Frisk cried out again, holding him tightly.

“I c-can’t get it o-off,” they whispered, crying. “H-help?”

“I got it,” he whispered, guiding Frisk’s hands under their shirt. “Can you take it from here?”

“Y-yeah…” With trembling hands, they pulled it off, collapsing into Asriel’s arms. “Oh, God, Azzy, it h-hurts so much…”

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, clearly close to tears. “I’m so sorry, Frisk.”

“I wanna go home,” they repeated, clinging to his sweater. “I just wanna go home.”

“I’ll find a way to get you home. I promise.”

He grabbed their sweater off of the ground, pulling it over their shoulders and pushing their arms through the sleeves. Asriel lifted them up, holding them tightly and stepping out of the machine. “They want to go home,” he said. “Really badly, and I don’t know what to do.”

Frisk whimpered quietly, pressing their face into his shoulder.

Asgore frowned. “What time is it?”

Toriel checked the time on her phone. “About eight in the evening. Why?”

“I think that the governor’s office closes around this time—I am sure that he would be willing to give Frisk and Asriel a ride.”

Asriel tilted his head. “You sure?”

“Logan’s nice,” Frisk whispered. “He wouldn’t mind.”

Asgore handed his phone to Asriel. “Give him a call, and see if he could take you home. I think that would work.”

Asriel nodded. “We’ll see you and Chara at home.” As he walked out of the room, holding Frisk in his arms, he paused for a moment, stopping beside his friend’s body. There was a bump underneath their sweater that he hadn’t noticed before.

He pulled it out, gasping as he saw the heart locket that he had given them years ago. He still had his, and Frisk had a similar one, but it warmed his heart to know that Toriel had buried them with the locket.

He brushed some strands of hair out of their face, smiling as he saw his best friend again. “I missed you, Chara,” he said. “But I’ll see you soon. I kept my promise, didn’t I?”

He adjusted his grip on Frisk, making his way to the elevator. It was a long ride all the way up to New Home, and his arms were struggling from carrying their weight so long after holding Chara for nearly an hour.

As soon as they got to the bedroom in New Home, Asriel set them down, leaning against the wall and panting. He tried to sit up, accidentally knocking a picture down. It fell and hit him on the head, and he let out a quiet whimper. He picked up the picture from where it had fallen, eyes widening when he recognized it.

It was a picture that they had taken together so long ago, the four of them standing in Asgore and Toriel’s flower garden. Asriel had gathered a small bouquet of flowers and given it to Chara, and took some for himself, but Chara used it to hide their face.

He looked at the picture fondly, placing it back on the nightstand. “We’re gonna have to retake that picture when you get home,” he said. “For now, I have to focus on taking Frisk home.”

He lifted them up, cradling them in his arms as memories, both good and bad, overwhelmed him. Asriel tried to force them out of his mind, walking towards the castle. He made it there quickly, walking towards the barrier room, and for a moment, he was convinced he couldn’t go on.

“God must really hate me, huh?” he whispered. “You aren’t even dead, but I can’t help but feel like I’m walking to my doom again.” He adjusted his grip, walking towards the exit to the mountain.

Fresh air hit his face, and Asriel took a deep breath, looking up at the sky. The sun had long since set, and the stars were high in the sky. Over the past month, Frisk and Chara had shown him the locations of some constellations and stars. He had practically memorized the locations of the Little Dipper and Cassiopeia, and if he squinted, he could see Orion’s Belt.

Chara had once joked that there was a star that was named after them, but he couldn’t remember where it was. It made sense, though. Chara had always been like a star to him, a tiny shining light in the darkness when everything else was blacked out.

Now, Asriel had to be their star.

  
  
  


Everything was so blurry. Why was it so blurry?

Chara opened their eyes, seeing gray ceiling tiles in front of them. They let out a quiet groan, and heard a gasp. Somebody’s hand took theirs, and they squeezed it tightly. Everything was so confusing. Where was Frisk? Why could they not feel them? What was happening?

They groaned, trying to comprehend what was happening. Why wasn’t Frisk saying anything? Why couldn’t Chara feel them?

“Frisk?” they whispered, but someone shushed them.

“Open your eyes, my child,” someone said, and Chara quickly recognized Toriel’s voice.

“Mom? What’s going on? Where’s Frisk?”

“Shh,” Toriel said, running a hand through their hair. “You need to wake up, dear. Open your eyes.”

Chara blinked, looking up at Toriel sitting next to them. “What’s happening?”

Instead of explaining anything, which would have been pretty helpful, Toriel simply handed over a mirror. Chara sighed, looking at their reflection and nearly dropping the mirror in shock.

They had expected to see Frisk’s deep brown hair, olive skin, and brown eyes, but… that wasn’t the sight in the mirror. Instead of the reflection that they had become so used to over time, they saw auburn hair and eyes, and pale skin with rosy cheeks.

They saw themself, for the first time in centuries.

“Huh?” they murmured, before remembering what had happened. Alphys had extracted their Determination from Frisk’s soul, and used it to recreate their own. It hurt, of course, but wasn’t that something to be expected with something like this?

“How are you feeling?” Toriel asked.

“Uh, a little shocked,” Chara said, looking at their body. Their sweater was a little dirty, but it wasn’t too bad. Their heart locket was still there, and they held onto it tightly, a nervous habit that they had developed a while ago. “Can’t really believe I’m still here…”

As they watched, Asgore and Alphys walked in, discussing something about them. “From what I’ve seen over the course of the day, the two of them are very codependent, so I think it would be a bad idea to separate them for too long—Oh! Chara! You’re awake.”

Asgore was instantly at their side, taking their hand. “How do you feel?”

“Uh… okay, I guess? I feel a little weird, but wouldn’t anybody feel weird after being brought back to life?”

Asgore chuckled. “I suppose you are correct,” he said. He looked to Alphys, asking, “Are they clear to go home now?”

Alphys nodded, consulting a notebook that she was holding. “I’d suggest they exercise regularly, to make sure that their muscles are working correctly,” she said. “Their soul’s magic has kept their body functioning for a very long time, but their muscles might have wasted a bit.”

“We will make sure they get the proper exercise,” Toriel said, running a hand through Chara’s hair. “And I am certain that they will make a full recovery.”

Alphys nodded. “I have to stay here for a little while longer, to get some work done and check on Mettaton and the other monsters,” she said, “but you guys can leave if you want to.”

Toriel helped Chara stand up, letting them lean against her as they made their way out of the lab. Asgore stayed back for a little while to make an address to the monsters, which gave the two of them some time together.

“Oh, my child, I am so happy that you are here,” Toriel said, holding tightly to their hand. “We will have so much fun on the Surface! Oh, it is so wonderful, you would not believe it!”

“I think I would,” Chara said, amused, “seeing as I’ve been living in Frisk’s head for the past month.”

Toriel laughed. “You do make a good point.”

They walked through New Home together, Toriel leading Chara to the castle and out onto the mountain. The stars shone above them, but for once, they paid them no mind.

They walked the rest of the way home, Toriel sighing in disappointment when she saw that Asriel had fallen asleep at the kitchen table. “Does this child not know how to take care of himself? Do not worry yourself, Chara. I will take him to the guest room for the night, and you may sleep with Frisk. We will work out sleeping arrangements tomorrow, alright?”

“Sounds great,” Chara murmured, yawning. The day’s events had been very taxing. They made their way up the stairs, opening the door to their room and collapsing on Asriel’s bed. If they tilted their head at the right angle, they could see Frisk comfortably tucked into bed.

They stood up, kneeling next to Frisk. Their best friend was lying on their side, hair falling in their face as they slept peacefully. 

Chara smiled, walking back to Asriel’s bed and laying down. “Good night, Frisk,” they whispered. “Thanks for giving me a second chance.”

And as soon as the words left their mouth, the impact of what happened that day truly hit them, and they couldn’t keep their tears from falling.

Chara was alive.


End file.
